Monitor 43 V1 (Page 1 - 2) - Apollo Fire Detectors Limited

Apollo: past, present and future
Apollo has been at the forefront of innovation in fire detection
for 30 years. The Monitor looks at what has gone before, and
where it is likely to lead us in the future.
In 1980, when Apollo first opened
for business, the choice of fire
detection technology was simple:
ionisation sensors were used for
smoke detection and thermistors
for detecting heat. The company's
first detectors, the Mark I and Mark
II, were ionisation smoke detectors.
Within four years, Apollo's flair for
innovation became apparent with
the introduction of Series 30: a new
design of ionisation smoke detector
that radically reduced the size of the
radioactive source without
compromising performance and so
made transportation and storage
much safer. The design of the Series
30 detector was also new, being
very neat and compact in
appearance.
Apollo added an optical fire detector
to its product offering in 1984.
Series 90 TM , the company's first full
range of fire detectors, followed in
1986. This range - the first to use
6
analogue addressable technology -
was a milestone for the industry as
well as Apollo, and quickly became
the market leader. The protocol
used in Series 90 forms the basis
for every subsequent Apollo
analogue addressable product.
Although Series 90 effectively
established Apollo as a serious
contender, the company did not rest
on its laurels. Its ongoing research
and development programme was
already working on the next
generation of fire detectors. The
results were the Series 60 TM range
of low profile conventional fire
detectors and the XP95 range of
analogue addressable devices. The
latter featured another piece of
technological genius: the patented
XPERT address card.
As a means of programming in
individual addresses, the XPERT card
is a simple but elegant solution to
what was a complex problem.
Rather than
use increasingly
sophisticated or
computer-based
methods, Apollo
returned to first
principles to produce
this purely mechanical
and virtually foolproof
means of addressing
devices. Its popularity has
meant that the XPERT card
continues as part of the
Discovery range, the natural
successor to XP95.
Developing technology to meet - or
even exceed - market expectations
continues to this day. So, what can
we expect from innovators like
Apollo in the future? One area
currently being researched is the
adoption of sensor technologies
from other industries - particularly
semiconductor-based sensors.
Having proven themselves reliable
in other arenas, particularly in the
detection of toxic and combustible
gases, there is strong interest in
transferring this sensor technology
to fire detection applications.
Other projects include overcoming
the technical issues associated with
making fire detectors 'invisible'.
While many products have been
miniaturised in recent years, this is
not a practical option for smoke
detectors because the sensor
chamber needs to be large enough
to allow particles in. However,
making fire detectors more discreet
and low profile to meet aesthetic
requirements is not only possible -
it is about to become a reality. For
your first taste of the future
according to Apollo, turn to page 8.
“We celebrate the past to
awaken the future”
John F Kennedy